Tilapia Piscidin 4 (TP4) Stimulates Cell Proliferation and Wound Closure in MRSA-Infected Wounds in Mice

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are endogenous antibiotics that directly affect microorganisms, and also have a variety of receptor-mediated functions. One such AMP, Tilapia piscidin 4 (TP4), was isolated from Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus); TP4 has antibacterial effects and regulates the innate immune system. The aim of the present study was to characterize the role of TP4 in the regulation of wound closure in mice and proliferation of a keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and fibroblast cell line (Hs-68). In vitro, TP4 stimulated cell proliferation and activated collagen I, collagen III, and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) gene expression in Hs-68 cells, which induces keratin production by HaCaT cells. This effect was detectable at TP4 concentrations of 6.25 µg/mL in both cell lines. In vivo, TP4 was found to be highly effective at combating peritonitis and wound infection caused by MRSA in mouse models, without inducing adverse behavioral effects or liver or kidney toxicity. Taken together, our results indicate that TP4 enhances the survival rate of mice infected with the bacterial pathogen MRSA through both antimicrobial and wound closure activities mediated by epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor (TGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The peptide is likely involved in antibacterial processes and regulation of tissue homeostasis in infected wounds in mice. Overall, these results suggest that TP4 may be suitable for development as a novel topical agent for wound dressing.     

水牛Oct4、Nanog基因的克隆及其在水牛胎儿成纤维细胞中的表达

【目的】转录因子Oct4、Nanog是调节干细胞多能性相关的转录因子,在干细胞的分化和胚胎发育中有重要作用。本研究旨在克隆水牛Oct4和Nanog基因、分析基因序列和蛋白结构、构建逆转录表达载体,并在水牛体细胞中表达,为进一步研究其在水牛早期胚胎发育中的作用,以及为建立水牛胚胎干细胞系和诱导多能干细胞系（iPSC）奠定基础。【方法】分别从水牛生殖嵴和体细胞中提取RNA和DNA,将RNA反转录成第1链cDNA,参照牛基因序列（Oct4：NM_174580,Nanog：NM_001025344）设计特异性引物,采用RT-PCR和PCR分别扩增Oct4和Nanog的编码区序列（the coding sequences,CDS）和DNA全长序列,其中Oct4全长DNA分3段扩增,Nanog全长DNA分2段扩增;利用生物在线分析软件对水牛Oct4和Nanog进行蛋白质结构预测和同源性比对;采用EcoRⅠ、XholⅠ和XholⅠ、NotⅠ双酶切,T4连接酶,将Oct4和Nanog的CDS连接到逆转录病毒载体pMX上,构建逆转录表达载体pMX-Oct4和pMX-Nanog;采用组织块法培养水牛胎儿成纤维细胞（buffalo fetal fibroblasts,BFFs）,逆转录表达系统经过病毒包装后产生的病毒上清液感染BFFs,感染12-15h后,继续培养48 h;通过RT-PCR和免疫荧光技术检测转基因在BFFs中的表达情况。【结果】Oct4 CDS全长1 083 bp,编码361个氨基酸,DNA全长4 509 bp,包括5个外显子和4个内含子;Nanog CDS全长903 bp,编码301个氨基酸,DNA全长4 473 bp,包括4个外显子和3个内含子;将Oct4和Nanog基因序列提交到GenBank,分配的基因登录号分别为JN991003和JN991004;Oct4氨基酸序列与牛、猪、人和鼠相应氨基酸的同源性分别为98%、96%、91%和81%,Nanog氨基酸序列与牛、猪、人和鼠相应氨基酸的同源性分别为90%、81%、69%和47%;Oct4和Nanog蛋白结构与小鼠相应蛋白的结构相似,分别含有本家族特有的POU结构域和HOX同源结构域;成功构建表达Oct4和Nanog的逆转录病毒载体pMX-Oct4和pMX-Nanog;逆转录病毒系统pMX介导的Oct4和Nanog基因能转入BFFs中,在mRNA水平和蛋白水平都表达,阴性对照中不表达。【结论】分别克隆了水牛Oct4和Nanog的DNA序列全长和CDS,其基因序列和氨基酸序列在物种间高度保守;逆转录病毒转基因方法将Oct4和Nanog基因成功地转入BFFs并表达。逆转录病毒系统介导目的基因表达的转基因方法可以应用于水牛转基因研究和水牛iPSC生产。     

Pulmonary thromboembolism

Objective – To review the pathophysiology, clinical signs, diagnosis, and treatment of pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) in small animals. Data Sources – Human and veterinary clinical studies, reviews, texts, and recent research in canine and feline PTE diagnosis and thromboembolic therapeutics. Human Data Synthesis – In humans, clinical probability assessment and point‐of‐care D‐dimer‐based algorithms are widely used. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography is the gold standard for PTE diagnosis in humans. Echocardiography is increasingly used for bedside assessment of affected patients. In low‐risk human patients anticoagulants alone are recommended while patients with cardiogenic shock are treated with thrombolytics followed by anticoagulation. Veterinary Data Synthesis – PTE is associated with numerous predisposing conditions causing hypercoagulability, blood flow stasis, or endothelial injury. Identifying at‐risk patients is key to diagnosis in small animals. Thromboelastography provides a method for identifying hypercoagulable patients. Computed tomography pulmonary angiography may replace selective pulmonary angiography as the imaging technique of choice for PTE diagnosis. PTE therapy consists of supportive treatment combined with appropriate, individualized thromboembolic pharmacotherapy for acute treatment and chronic management. Thrombolytic therapy for PTE remains controversial but may be indicated in hemodynamically unstable acute PTE. Thromboprophylaxis in specific conditions is rational although evidence of efficacy is limited. Prognosis depends upon degree of cardiopulmonary compromise and patient response to therapy. Mortality rates in small animals are unknown. Conclusions – New diagnostic techniques and advances in therapy offer significant potential for improvements in the identification and treatment of PTE in small animals. Further study must be directed to validating new diagnostic modalities and evaluating therapeutic regimes.     

Digestible and metabolizable energy concentrations and amino acid digestibility of dried yeast and soybean meal for growing pigs

Energy values and amino acid (AA) digestibility of dried yeast (DY) and soybean meal (SBM) were determined in 2 experiments with growing pigs. Experiment 1 was conducted to determine the digestible energy (DE) and metabolizable energy (ME) in DY and SBM. Thirty barrows with a mean initial body weight (BW) of 20.6 kg (SD = 1.04) were assigned to 5 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with period and BW as blocking factors. A reference diet was prepared with corn, canola meal, and soybean oil as energy-contributing ingredients. Four additional diets were prepared by adding 5% and 10% DY or SBM at the expense of energy-contributing ingredients in the reference diet. The ratio of corn, canola meal, and soybean oil was kept consistent across the experimental diets. Each experimental period consisted of 5-d adaptation and 5-d quantitative collection of feces and urine. Test ingredient-associated DE or ME intake (kcal/d) was regressed against test ingredient intake [kg dry matter (DM)/d] to estimate the DE or ME in test ingredients as the slope of linear regression model. The DE in DY was estimated at 3,933 kcal/kg DM, which was not different from the estimated DE in SBM at 4,020 kcal/kg DM. Similarly, there was no difference between DY and SBM in the estimated ME (3,431 and 3,756 kcal/kg DM, respectively). Experiment 2 was conducted to determine the standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of AA in DY and SBM. Twenty-one barrows with a mean initial BW of 20.0 kg (SD = 1.31) were surgically fitted with T-cannulas at the distal ileum and assigned to 3 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with BW as a blocking factor. Two semi-purified diets containing DY or SBM as the sole nitrogen source and one nitrogen-free diet (NFD) were prepared. The NFD was used to estimate the basal ileal endogenous losses of CP and AA. Pigs were fed the 3 diets for 5 d as adaptation, followed by 2 d of feeding with ileal digesta collection. The SID of AA, except Gly and Pro, in DY was less (P < 0.05) than in SBM. The SID of indispensable AA in DY ranged from 64.1% for Thr to 85.2% for Arg, and those in SBM ranged from 83.9% for Thr to 91.8% for Arg. In conclusion, energy values of DY are not different from those of SBM, whereas AA in DY is less digestible than in SBM. The estimated DE and ME as well as the SID of AA in DY and SBM can be used in diet formulation for growing pigs using these ingredients.     

犬钩端螺旋体黄疸出血群LipL32在大肠杆菌中的高效表达

本试验收集了临床发生黄疸病犬的尿液,提取基因组DNA,经16srRNA基因PCR鉴定,表明该犬存在钩体黄疸出血群毒株感染.以该基因组DNA为模板,扩增获得lipL32基因,并对该基因进行了原核表达,结果显示该抗原在大肠杆菌中获得高效可溶性表达.该蛋白的成功制备为犬钩体的诊断及新型亚单位疫苗的研制提供了广谱候选抗原.     

Genetic analysis of ORF5 of recent Korean porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome viruses (PRRSVs) in viremic sera collected from MLV-vaccinating or non-vaccinating farms

The 23 open reading frame (ORF) 5 sequences of Korean type II porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) were collected from viremic sera from the (modified live vaccine) MLV-vaccinating and non-vaccinating farms from 2007 to 2008. The samples were phylogenetically analyzed with previous ORF5 sequences, including type I Korean PRRSV, and previously reported or collected sequences from 1997 to 2008. A MN184-like subgroup of type II Korean PRRSV was newly identified in the viremic sera collected from 2007 to 2008. And of the type I PRRSVs, one subgroup had 87.2~88.9% similarity with the Lelystad virus, showing a close relationship with the 27~2003 strain of Spain. The maximum parsimony tree of type II PRRSV from 1997 to 2008 showed that they had evolved to four lineages, subgroups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Most of the recently collected type II PRRSVs belonged to subgroup 4 (48%). The region of three B-cell epitopes and two T-cell epitopes of ORF5 amino acids sequences was considerably different from the MLV in subgroups 3 and 4. In conclusion, the existence of type I PRRSV, which was genetically different from Lelystad virus (Prototype of type I PRRSV), and heterologous type II PRRSVs of viremic pigs detected even in the MLV-vaccinating farms indicated the need for new vaccine approaches for the control of PRRSV in Korea.     

Evaluation of a competitive ELISA for antibody detection against avian influenza virus

Active serologic surveillance is necessary to control the spread of the avian influenza virus (AIV). In this study, we evaluated a commercially-available cELISA in terms of its ability to detect AIV antibodies in the sera of 3,358 animals from twelve species. cELISA detected antibodies against reference H1- through H15-subtype AIV strains without cross reactivity. Furthermore, the cELISA was able to detect antibodies produced following a challenge of the AIV H9N2 subtype in chickens, or following vaccination of the AIV H9 or H5 subtypes in chickens, ducks and geese. Next, we tested the sensitivity and specificity of the cELISA with sera from twelve different animal species, and compared these results with those obtained by the hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) test, the "gold standard" in AIV sera surveillance, a second commercially-available cELISA (IZS ELISA), or the agar gel precipitation (AGP) test. Compared with the HI test, the sensitivities and specificities of cELISA were 95% and 96% in chicken, 86% and 88% in duck, 97% and 100% in turkey, 100% and 87% in goose, and 91% and 97% in swine, respectively. The sensitivities and specificities of the cELISA in this study were higher than those of IZS ELISA for the duck, turkey, goose, and grey partridge sera samples. The results of AGP test against duck and turkey sera also showed significant correlation with the results of cELISA (R-value >0.9). In terms of flock sensitivity, the cELISA correlated better with the HI test than with commercially-available indirect ELISAs, with 100% flock sensitivity.     

广西岩溶区烟草栽培地土壤养分、微生物与病害发生的调查分析

对广西岩溶区靖西县栽培的烟草根际土壤养分、微生物数量和主要病害的发生情况进行了调查分析。结果表明：该地区土壤pH偏高,营养元素除了速效钾含量较低外,有机质、全氮、速效磷、有效锰、有效铁、有效铜、有效锌含量均为丰富,总体肥力较好,其中水田土壤的有机质、全氮含量显著高于旱田（P<0.01）。土壤中微生物总量为1.21×107~9.91×107个/g,其中细菌数量占绝对优势,放线菌次之,真菌最少,水田细菌数量显著高于旱田（P<0.05）。3种病害总体以马铃薯Y病毒病为主,发生范围最广,黒胫病次之,青枯病偶有发生。相关分析表明,土壤有机质和全氮含量对细菌数量或总量有很大的影响,土壤速效磷和pH值对植株发病率的影响较大。     

啤酒营养与保健作用的研究进展

啤酒是以大麦芽、啤酒花、酵母等原料酿造而成的一种低酒度(3%)饮品。啤酒营养丰富,含多种人体必需氨基酸、维生素和微量元素,以及生物活性物质,如多酚和黄酮类化合物等,饮用后对人体的多种生理功能具有调节作用。其药理和保健作用有:防止动脉硬化和心脏病、抑制癌症、促进血液循环、改善免疫机能、抗氧化与抗衰老、促进雌激素分泌、减轻放射线损害、预防白内障、解除肾结石、镇静、活化胃、促进食欲等。